Improvement in pressing hats



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

.it'LEs-*rnaxeots tt'iaTnIAs, or ranisfFnANoE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRESSING HATS.

Fpeeieation forminr par? of Letters Patent No.4 1,31 l` dated January 19, l`(`4.

To all whom l may concern:

12e it known that. I, Jtr s: Fatxeois MA.- 'ritt.\s.ot'1aris, inthe Empire of France. have invented a ynew or improved Apparat-us for Pressing Straw and other Hats, of which lthe following is a Specification.

This invention consists in the pressing: of hats or bonnets by means of'stea'm or other tluid at a suitable pressure acting upon atlex` ible diaphragm or cover applied to one side ofthe hat or bonnet, while the other side is supported by a rigid block or forin-` by which means a great saving ottime am" vaber is effeeted, and the grainl of the straw u. other material ot' which the hat or bon iet is composed is better preserved. It also onsist's in eertain mechanical means of applying the above system of pressure to the above purpose.

To enable others skilled in the art to malifA and use my invention. l will proceed to de'` scribe its construction and operation.

Figure 1 is la side elevation of the appara tus employed. representing it partly in ,seetion. Fig. is a plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate Corresponding parts in both figures.

A is a table, on which there is'plaei'-ti a snitable bed, L. for the reeeption and support ot' the hat-block C.

l) is what may-be termed the block Cover," eonsisting of a hollow dome. of cast-iron or, other stront: metal, large enough to cover the block C and contain the vulcanized sheet in dia-rubberdiaphragm li, which is stretehed ari-oss the bottom ot' the said eover and Seenred-around -the eliges thereof iu sueh. man i ner as t0 truite a peri`eetl`v-tight joint and i torni a tight eliamber within the eover. Thi. l eover is lsecured to and near the front end of a st rong lever, G. which is secured to a trans l verse shaft ll. which is fitted to bearings in i standards l l. ereeted upon thetabie A. bueh end ofthe levert; is loaded with weights J J. to slightly more than eounterbalat-ee the bloekseover l), so that the said eover may be l raised from the liat-bloek bythesaid weights. |l Atfthe front end. ot' the lever G there is a i The handle S, by hielt the operatortakeshohl of it topull theeover over the block. The said lever 4is formed with tenons on its bottom, both in tront of and behind the bloekrover, to enter mortises in the bed B, for the purpose of preupon the bed; and horizontal sliding bolts 'K li are fitted to holes provided in the Inortises and teuf-ns to hold dawn the cover upon the bed. anal these bolts are connected with a '-e L. whit-h is fitted toslide on two fixed outal ,etude-rods, a o. secured to one side ofthe bed l. l toothed rash., M. which gears with a toothed Sector, X. on a horizontal shaft 1, which is titted to bearings in braehets Q Q, bolted to the standards of the table A. This shaft iS {ital} with a lever ll, b v which to turn it to maire the Sector acty upon the rack and thereby more the volte in or ont for the purpose of inserting or drawin Y the bolts. At the top of the cover there is a eoek, l, l'or the admission of .steam through a flexible pipe troni a boiler.

The operation of the apparatus isa follows: The bolts K li are withdrawn bv a movementofthe lever Il, and the bloeit-cover hallowed to be raised by the weights .l J. The block C is then placed on the bed B,and the. hat placed over it and covered with a cap ofstt, flexible leather. pulled down over the bloek byl the handle S. and the steam being at this time. shut ott from it bythe Coeli I.' the elastie diaphragm li stretches easitvover the hat. The bolts K .l are next slid through theI bed and the tenons on the lever G. by movin;- the lever Il in a proper direeionand the xover thus Secured. The eoek l is then opened to admit steam t0 the intl-rior ot the bloelfeover, and the i4steam pressing; upon the diaphragm 'li preSSeS it elosely :trout-ni the bloeit' and makes it Conform thereto. and the pressure is transmitted through :ln-diaphragm nml the tlexibleleather eover to all parts of the hat at the same time. This pressure eontinued from one to three. minutes is Sutiieient for the tiuishing of the hat, whereas in the ironing of hats b v hand forty-tive minutesare in many eases oecupied'in doin;r the same work in a -leSSpt-.rfect manner. When the pressing: ofthe hat has been performed. the steam is shut ot'f from the bloeit-Cover b v closingr the eceli I,v Athe bolts li l( are.withdrawn to allow the weights J J to raise `the said cover', and the block is taken from the bedaud the hatremovml from it.

Hydrauliopresaure or tht` pressure of heated This yoke has attached toit av The block-cover 1) is then air or gris might posibly be Substituted fu: TM- vombinmieu of the'` block C, blocksleam-pressnrein theblock-euver: but :is iii-zu rem-x' l). iexibie diaphragm E, and lever G, and pressure are both desirable, I beic\'ellmi, sulmnxaily as and n." the purpose herein all thingb vonsidercd. steam-presSure is best specified. adapted to t'he purpose of my invention.

\\'bnt I ciniuins mv invention, and desire i to Secure by Lettexs Patent. isi 1. The preiiing 0f linvts b vsmm or other] 'itnesses:

J. F. MATHIAS.

fiuid acting Pyun a flexible limpia-agili, inthe E. HERMAN COULD,V nimmer subsmniuliy as herein shown and de- C. DETNOS. scribed. 

